The fire crackled low.
They had made camp beside a dried riverbed, the cursed wind of the Jyothra Realm finally still for the night. For once, nothing twisted in the trees. No mist. No whispers.
At least… not out loud.
Raen sat a little apart from the others, hunched over with the Veinblade resting beside him in its rewrapped seal cloth. He stared at the flames like they might offer answers.
They didn't.
Across from him, Talin stoked the fire with a stick and glanced over. "You gonna keep brooding forever, or say something cryptic and mysterious again?"
Raen didn't look up. "If I talk too much, I might let something out."
Nira sat next to Talin, legs crossed, flipping through her worn rune journal. "You used the Veinblade again. That makes three times."
Raen's grip on his knees tightened.
"I didn't want to."
"You didn't hesitate," she replied, flatly.
The fire popped.
"I saw something again," Raen admitted. "Not a beast. A battlefield. Two whisper gods. One wielded the Veinblade, the other… something older. The girl from the last vision was there, and so was a man kneeling in chains."
Talin leaned back, arms behind his head. "Visions, cursed weapons, battles with creatures made of pain… Sounds like you've got a busy mental inbox."
Nira looked up from her journal. "What if the shard fragments aren't just keys to the Veinblade? What if they're pieces of its personality?"
Raen blinked. "You think the sword was alive?"
"Not alive. But aware. Old Whisper Blades were forged from thoughts, not just steel. If the Veinblade was once whole, it had an identity. The more shards we find, the more we're rebuilding it. Maybe that's why it's affecting you."
Talin smirked. "Great. Raen's turning into a legendary murder blade. I've always wanted a sentient weapon as a teammate."
Raen finally looked up. "You two could walk away."
Nira raised an eyebrow. "And let you wander into a god-war alone? No thanks."
Talin nodded. "You think I stuck around this long for pay?"
Raen managed a slight smile. "So we're cursed together, then."
Nira closed her journal. "Welcome to the club."
---
📍 Later That Night
Everyone was asleep.
Except Raen.
The Veinblade was vibrating softly beneath the wrappings. Not violently. Not angrily. Like it was… breathing.
He unwrapped just a corner of the cloth.
And the voice spoke—soft, almost tender.
"We were whole once. Before the betrayal."
Raen's heart froze.
"You remember?"
"Only fragments. But enough to know… you are not him. Yet you carry his pain. And that is dangerous."
Raen swallowed. "Who is he?"
"The first bearer. The one who split the sky. He screamed so loud it scarred the realm."
Raen's hand trembled. "Am I becoming him?"
A pause.
Then:
"Not yet. But you're listening."
The fire crackled one last time.
And Raen whispered to himself, not knowing if it was his thought or the sword's:
"I wonder what I'll lose next."